Suzanne Taylor: A Way With Words
This year’s volunteer of the year, Suzanne Taylor, is every inch a southern lady
but there is much more of a steel magnolia about her than a shrinking violet. She was
born in Greensboro, North Carolina, and has spent her life south of the Mason Dixon
line. Suzanne has been a member of the Kiawah Conservancy’s Board of Trustees for
four years but most Kiawah Island residents know Suzanne as the indefatigable editor of
the Kiawah Conservancy’s magazine, Naturally Kiawah from 2011 to 2014. In Suzanne’s
soft but oh-so-capable hands the magazine has morphed into an inspiring testimony to
all that is beautiful about the Island.
Growing up Suzanne was “that girl.” If you wanted to find her, you would have
to search for a quiet corner where she would undoubtedly be curled up with a good
book. Not much has changed since those days. She graduated from the University
of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and later earned a master’s degree in Education
from George Washington University. She and Bill, her husband of 43 years whom
she met when she was in second grade and he was in fourth grade, lived for a time in
the Washington D.C. area. Bill is a business lawyer who continues to work full time,
generally from his home office. Suzanne was inevitably drawn to career choices that
enabled her to use her skill as a writer. She spent time on the staff of Senator Abraham
Ribicoff and in the publication department of Price Waterhouse. She and Bill have one
son, Neil, who lives the outdoor life of a typical Colorado resident, worrying about forest
fires and water.
Suzanne’s first visit to Kiawah did not begin auspiciously. Bill had decided to
take her on a special trip to the Cloisters for her birthday in the 1980s. However, the
Cloisters was completely booked at the time so their enterprising travel agent suggested
a place they had never heard of – Kiawah Island. They got off the plane to encounter
unprecedented heat and humidity and shut their car windows tight to avoid the strange
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